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Ep389: Moon Landing 1969 · Kidcast Daily

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  Spin the wheel, let's take a ride.
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  Sports and science bursting from inside a world of wonder.
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  Open wide. Come on kids, let's amplify kid
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  cats. Daily starts your day, Fun and
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  laughter come your way. Sports and Trinia games galore.
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  Welcome to Kick Ass Daily, where we bring you news, trivia, fun
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  facts, and more made just for curious kids like you.
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  Today we are exploring one of the biggest moments in space
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  history, the first moon landing in 1969.
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  We will look at how the astronauts got there, what they
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  did, and why it still matters. So let's get on with today's
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  episode. Imagine planning a trip that
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  takes three days, crosses more than 380,000 kilometers, and
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  ends on a place no person had ever visited before.
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  That is what the Apollo 11 mission did.
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  It began with a huge rocket called the Saturn 5, which
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  launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 16th,
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  1969. The Saturn 5 was taller than
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  many city buildings and had three stages that fired one
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  after another to push the spacecraft into space.
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  On top was the spacecraft that carried 3 astronauts, Neil
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  Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.
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  Here is a yes or no question to start us off.
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  Did all three Apollo 11 astronauts step onto the moon?
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  No, only Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon.
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  Michael Collins stayed in orbit around the moon alone in the
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  command module, making sure everything ran smoothly while
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  waiting for his crewmates to return from the surface.
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  The Apollo 11 spacecraft had two main parts for the trip.
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  The command module, which was the small cone shaped capsule
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  where the astronauts lived during most of the mission, and
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  the lunar module, which was the Lander used to go down to the
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  moon and back up. The command module had a call
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  sign or radio name called Columbia.
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  The lunar module was called Eagle.
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  Did you know these names were chosen by the crew and they used
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  them constantly when talking with Mission Control in Houston,
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  TX. The journey from Earth to the
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  Moon took about 3 days. The astronauts guided their path
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  using the onboard Apollo Guidance Computer.
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  It was powerful for its time, but had far less memory than a
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  basic digital watch or calculator.
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  Today, the guidance computer used about 2 kilobytes of
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  working memory to help keep the spacecraft on course.
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  The crew also used star sightings, checking the
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  positions of bright stars through a special window to
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  confirm where they were. They did routine tasks, ate
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  meals and space pouches, and sometimes looked back at Earth,
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  which appeared as a round, colorful world in the blackness
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  of space. Here comes a trivia question
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  that teaches a new detail about space travel.
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  How long does it take for a radio message to travel one way
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  from the moon to Earth? About 1.3 seconds.
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  That means when someone on the moon spoke to Mission Control,
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  there was a short delay before anyone on Earth heard it.
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  That tiny delay made careful communication even more
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  important. On July 20th, 1969, Eagles
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  separated from Colombia and began to descend toward the
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  moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin
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  piloted Eagle to a safe landing spot at 2017 Universal Time.
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  Coordinated, they touched down in an area called the Sea of
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  Tranquility. Neil Armstrong reported the
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  Eagle has landed. The landing was careful and slow
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  because the surface was dusty and uneven.
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  After landing, they did safety checks to be sure the spacecraft
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  was stable and everything was working.
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  A few hours later, Neil Armstrong climbed down a ladder
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  and stepped onto the moon's surface.
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  He became the first person to do this, then Buzz Aldrin joined
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  him. They moved carefully because the
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  moon's gravity is about 1/6 as strong as Earth's gravity.
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  This lower gravity made them lighter, but their suits were
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  bulky and stiff, so they practiced measured steps.
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  Did you know their space suits had layers for pressure,
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  temperature control and protection from tiny, sharp dust
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  particles? While on the surface, Armstrong
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  and Aldrin collected rock and soil samples.
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  They filled special bags with grey, powdery dust and small
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  rocks to bring back for scientists.
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  They set up experiments to 1 was a seismometer to listen for
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  natural shaking in the moon's ground.
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  Another was a set of special reflectors that bounced laser
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  light directly back to Earth. These reflectors do not need
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  power. They're like precise mirrors for
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  laser beams sent from observatories.
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  Here is a yes or no question about those experiments.
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  Is there a mirror like device from Apollo 11 still on the moon
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  that scientists use today to measure the Earth moon distance
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  with lasers? Yes, the Laser Ranging
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  retroreflector from Apollo 11 still works, and scientists use
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  it to measure the distance to the moon with centimeter level
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  accuracy. The moonwalk lasted a little
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  over 2 hours. Armstrong and Aldrin worked
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  through a checklist of tasks, sample collection, photography,
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  experiment setup and documenting the site.
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  They also planted a United States flag and left a small
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  plaque on the Landers leg that recorded the date and their
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  visit. The TV camera they set up sent
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  live video back to Earth. Did you know hundreds of
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  millions of people watched the broadcast on television, even
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  though the video looked fuzzy and black and white?
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  Here comes a trivia question that brings in a fresh piece of
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  the story. Which ship picked up the Apollo
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  11 crew after they splashed down in the Pacific Ocean?
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  The aircraft carrier USS Hornet after re entering Earth's
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  atmosphere. Their command module parachuted
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  into the ocean on July 24th, 1969 and Navy divers helped
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  bring them aboard the ship. Before we get to splashdown,
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  there was still more to do. After finishing work on the
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  surface, Armstrong and Aldrin returned to the Lunar Module and
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  lifted off from the moon using its ascent engine.
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  They met up with Michael Collins, who was orbiting in
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  Columbia. The two parts docked together,
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  the samples were moved into the command module, and the crew
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  prepared for the trip home. Did you know the Lunar Landers
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  lower section stayed on the moon and is still there today?
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  Back on Earth, the crew faced one more careful step,
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  quarantine. Because no one knew for sure
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  whether moon dust might carry anything that could affect
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  Earth's environment or health. The astronauts and some of their
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  gear were kept in a sealed environment for about two weeks.
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  Scientists examined the rock samples, dust and equipment.
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  Nothing harmful was found, and the quarantine ended
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  successfully. This step showed how serious the
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  mission planners were about safety and science.
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  Here is another yes or no question you might not have
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  heard before. Did Apollo 11 carry a small
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  piece of wood and fabric from the first airplane built by the
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  Wright brothers? Yes, a tiny piece of wood and
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  fabric from the 19 O3 Wright Flyer was taken along as a
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  tribute to earlier pioneers of flight and then returned safely
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  to Earth. The Moon rocks from Apollo 11
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  taught scientists a lot. They found that the rocks are
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  very dry and contain minerals also found on Earth, like the
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  salt. This information supports the
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  idea that the moon formed long ago for material that once was
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  part of Earth. Although scientists continue to
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  study the details. Did you know that three
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  previously unrecognized minerals were discovered from the moon
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  samples brought back by Apollo 11?
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  Let's add one more trivia question that shares a new
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  angle. How many people in total have
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  walked on the moon across all Apollo missions?
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  12 people. All of them were NASA astronauts
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  who walked on the moon between 1969 and 1972 during the Apollo
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  program. The footprints from Apollo 11
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  are still there because the moon has no wind or rain to wash them
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  away. There is no air moving across
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  the surface. The marks can slowly change over
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  very long periods, but they last far longer than footprints on a
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  beach or a sidewalk on Earth. Equipment from Apollo 11 stays
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  there, too, including parts of the Lander and the scientific
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  instruments. Communication, navigation and
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  teamwork made Apollo 11 possible.
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  The astronauts trained for years.
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  They practice climbing in and out of mock ups, using tools
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  with thick gloves and working through problems calmly.
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  Mission Control teams worked 24 hours a day, watching fuel
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  levels, computer alerts and the spacecraft's path.
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  Did you know that during the landing, the guidance computer
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  showed warning codes because it was handling more tasks than
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  expected and the team decided it was safe to continue?
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  Before we wrap up, here is a quick recap.
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  Apollo 11 launched on July 16th, 1969 on the Saturn 5 rocket.
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  The crew was Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael
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  Collins. Columbia was the command module
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  in lunar orbit and Eagle was the lunar module that landed.
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  Armstrong and Aldrin spent just over 2 hours walking on the Moon
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  on July 20th, collecting samples and setting up experiments like
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  the seismometer and the laser retroreflector.
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  Hundreds of millions watched on TV.
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  The crew rejoined Michael Collins returned to Earth,
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  splashed down on July 24th, and were recovered by the USS
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  Hornet. The mission was carefully
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  planned, safely completed, and it gave scientists priceless
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  samples and data. Today, the legacy of Apollo 11
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  continues. Every time scientists bounce a
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  laser off the reflector, every time students study moon rocks
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  and museums, and every time we look up at the moon and know
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  that people have been there and returned home.
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  Grab. Your breakfast, feeling fine,
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  adventures waiting, don't be late.
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  Today's. The day we celebrate.